Two weeks from now my family will be in Whistler, Canada.  As I said in my last post this will be an all new adventure.  Here are just a few of the ways this race will be unlike anything I’ve done before.

THE LOCATION

The obvious is that this will be my first time racing in Canada. It will be my first time racing any further north than Oklahoma City. It won’t be my first time racing out of the US as Cozumel has that honor. Interestingly enough the location will hopefully help me check a box off my IM bucket list – finishing before dark. Technically I did that in North Carolina but at that race the bike course was cut in half so I it doesn’t 100% qualify. I don’t expect to be any faster on this course than any of the prior (quite the opposite). However, if you’ve ever spent any time in the northwest you know that the daylight seems to last forever in the summer. I remember spending a July 4th in Washington. It was daylight by 4 AM and it lasted until like 10 PM. Hopefully this time around there will be no need to carry a headlamp on the run.

THE SWIM

The only thing new here is that this will be my first 2.4 mile freshwater swim.  The primary difference between freshwater and saltwater is the buoyancy; saltwater has a much better effect.  Which technically means this will be the most challenging swim I’ve ever done.

THE BIKE

The three IM races I’ve done so far probably had a combined elevation gain on the bike of ~200ft. Maybe. This one will be quite different. The gain officially listed on the web site is 2579m or 8461ft. Ouch. There’s not really anywhere in TX to train for something like that. We spent the week of July up in Taos, NM with some friends.  I was able to do a few training rides to test out my climbing abilities.  After doing so I honestly thing I’m more concerned with descending than climbing.  Some folks are comfortable descending at +40 mph.  Not this guy.  I’ll need do double check my brakes for race day and pray my legs survive running a marathon after all of the climbing.

THE RUN

This will be the first marathon I’ve ever attempted immediately after a 112 mile bike ride with +8k ft of elevation immediately after a 2.4 mile fresh water swim.  All of that on a recovering meniscus.  Oh and the run course has a good 1k ft of elevation gain as well.

May the odds be ever in my favor.

THE GOAL

My ultimate IM goal is to someday break 12 hours. However, this year that goal is out the window for several reasons. For starters, see everything posted above. On top of that I’m coming off a winter knee injury (meniscus tear). Last but not least is my weight. I’m still a good +10 lbs over where I’d like to be. Hauling that extra weight up and down those hills certainly doesn’t scream PR. With all of these factors in play my goal is simply to finish before dark. Realistically I’ll be happy with a ~15 hour finish.

At this point the main things are to stay healthy, finish, and spend some time with my family at a fantastic venue.  I’m hoping we get a nice little escape from the July heat in Texas.  That alone is a win.